Ron Dominguez Dies: Disney Legend and EVP Of Attractions Was 85

Norway Rescuers Find Second Body From Landslide Site Near Oslo

Norwegian rescuers recovered a second body at a village not far from the nation’s capital hit by a landslide on Wednesday, with 8 people still missing.

The discovery was made about 100 meters into the site, Roy Alkvist, head of the police operation, told reporters on Saturday. Rescuers still hold out hope that survivors will be found, he said.

The quick-clay slide happened about 20 kilometers north of Oslo and follows a month of record rainfall. About 1,000 people were evacuated from the area after the landslide devastated large parts of the village.

Such landslides are known to occur in Norway and neighboring Sweden when the quick clay common to some parts of Scandinavia fills with rainwater and turns to liquid, according to the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute. Several houses were carried out into the sea due to a similar slide in June. No one was injured in that event.

Herald morning quiz: January 3

Test your brains with the Herald’s morning quiz. Be sure to check back on nzherald.co.nz at 3pm for the afternoon quiz.

To challenge yourself with more quizzes, CLICK HERE.

Italy Gives U.K. Finance Firms Brexit Grace Period Until June 30

Italy is giving U.K. finance firms a six-month post-Brexit grace period in which they can await authorization to do business in the country as non-European Union companies, the Italian market regulator said Saturday.

The extra time applies to financial intermediaries that applied before the end of 2020 for permission to keep operating in Italy, Consob said in a statement.

“British banks and investment firms may carry on their activities until such time as the authorization is either granted or refused by the Italian competent authorities, in any case no later than 30 June 2021,” the market regulator said.

“During such period the operation is limited to the activities for which an authorization is sought and to the outstanding contractual relationships,” the statement said.

While the EU and U.K. reached a trade deal at the end of 2020 that outlined the terms of the British exit, businesses have pleaded for grace periods to comply with the changes.

Mutual Funds, ETFs, Bitcoin Showed Strong Gains In 2020

It’s generally agreed that 2020 was not a great year. But for investors, there was a happy ending to it all.

Despite the headwinds of the pandemic, most mutual funds and exchange traded funds showed strong returns by the end of the year. Vanguard’s Total Stock Market Index fund, the largest fund by assets, returned 19.5 percent as of the end of December, more than double its average annual performance.

Bond funds also did well, showing slow and stead growth. The average intermediate-term core bond fund returned 7.3 percent as of the end of December.

Cryptocurrency also had a boom year, as institutional investors and large companies finally got on board with the volatile digital currency. Bitcoin rose from the $3,800 level to now stand above $31,000 as of today.

All of these reflect a market that took a 30 percent hit from February to March, when the US pandemic first emerged on a large scale. Panic selling ensued, plunging prices into the depths. But the blood in the streets lured in others, and their patience has paid off.

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UK reports 57,725 new COVID-19 cases, 445 deaths

LONDON (Reuters) – The United Kingdom recorded a further 57,725 cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, the fifth day running that it has topped 50,000, and another 445 deaths, official data showed.

Friday’s data had shown 53,285 new coronavirus infections and 613 deaths.

Organization Contests Bloomberg Businessweek Story: WE Charity

To the Editor:

WE Charity disagrees with Bloomberg’s narrative in its December 29, 2020 article, “How a Charity Superstar Innovated Its Way to Political Scandal.” So much of the story, from its major themes to minor details, is factually incorrect. We write today to begin setting the record straight. 

The statements above do not encompass all of the points in the story with which WE Charity disagrees. For example, as any visitor to WE projects is aware, there is no need to make work for volunteers as there is plenty of work to be done. All projects including our Kenyan Women’s Empowerment Centre are designed solely to meet the community wishes and donor plaques are literally cemented into the project walls and cannot be “swapped” like “Velcro.” 

We identified multiple senior WE Charity personnel, Kenyan officials and community leaders, and others as on-the-record interview subjects who were willing to participate in the story and Bloomberg declined to speak with all of them.

We encourage readers to visit WE Charity’s website at we.org for the truth about our organization and the many people around the world that WE Charity has helped and continues to serve.

WE Charity

Ron Dominguez Dies: Disney Legend and EVP Of Attractions Was 85

Ron Dominguez, a Disney Legend and former Executive Vice President of Attractions, died January 1, 2021 at 85. No cause of death was revealed in a Facebook post by the Disneyland Alumni.

Known as “Mr. Disneyland,” Dominguez was a prime mover in creating the Disney California Adventure theme park. He retired from The Walt Disney Company in 1994 after 39 years.

Born August 10, 1935, Dominguez grew up on the property that would become Disneyland, and his family home was moved to the park to serve as administrative offices. He became a ticket taker in the initial hires for the theme park.

In 1957, Dominguez became the assistant supervisor of Frontierland, moving up to the manager of Tomorrowland in 1962. He became the manager of the west side of Disneyland and in 1974, was named vice president of Disneyland and chairman of the park operating committee.

In 1990, Dominguez became Executive Vice President Walt Disney Attractions, West Coast.

He was named a Disney Legend in 2000.

Dominguez is survived by his wife of 41 years, Betty.

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